The rising star who could be Brighton’s next Baleba – if Arsenal don’t sign him first

Given all the summer speculation about the future of Carlos Baleba, it feels almost inevitable that Manchester United will be back with a bid for the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder at some point in 2026. That means that the Seagulls’ scouting department will already be scouring the continent for a replacement should one be required – and they may already have found one.

A few reports from the past month or so have suggested that Brighton are interested in Sevilla midfielder Lucien Agoumé, who has made a strong impression in Spain after joining Matías Almeyda’s side last January. The problem is that they may face some stiff competition – with Arsenal now reportedly among Agoumé’s suitors. So will Brighton really be able to sign the Frenchman, and would he be a worthy replacement for Baleba?

Will Brighton sign Lucien Agoumé – or will Arsenal beat them to it?

Reports suggesting that Brighton were interested in Agoumé first circulated after the Spanish press made the connection towards the end of September – but now another Iberian outlet, Fichajes, claims that Arsenal are keen as well.

Fichajes are not, in our opinion, an especially reliable source for transfer news but it’s a story that’s been picked up on by other outlets. As it stands, it’s gossip without support from more solid sources, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be true, especially given that Agoumé’s performances have been impressive enough to draw plenty of outside attention.

The 23-year-old has been excellent since moving to Sevilla from Inter Milan at the start of 2024. He joined Inter from Sochaux as a 17-year-old having just been named in the team of the tournament at the European Under-17 Championship, where he starred for France. In the end, Agoumé only made four senior appearances for the Nerazzurri and spent most of his four seasons at the San Siro away on loan, but he impressed enough for Sevilla to sign him for a reported €8m (£7m).

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Most of the stories now circulating suggesting that Agoumé, who was born in Cameroon but has represented France up to Under-21 level, would cost rather more – depending on who you believe, he would cost between £20m and £30m, while he has a release clause in his contract which is set at €40m (£34.5m) to set an absolute upper limit on the asking price.

That’s scarcely out of Arsenal’s price range, but it would be slightly surprising if they prioritised another central midfielder in future transfer markets having already invested in both Martín Zubimendi and Christian Nørgaard over the summer. Injuries or poor performances could quickly change the calculus, of course.

But it wouldn’t be a major surprise if Arsenal did ultimately allow Brighton a relatively clear path to Agoumé, should the Seagulls decide that he’s the right player to target. If they sold Baleba to United, a transfer which would likely net the club at least £100m, then they would certainly have the spare change left over to make a deal happen – and Sevilla don’t have as much leverage as they might like to prevent Agoumé from leaving. This is a deal which could be relatively straightforward to do if the link between the Sussex side and the midfielder proves to be accurate. But would he be able to fill the void left by Baleba?

Why Agoumé could be even better than Baleba - in some ways, at least

Like Baleba, Agoumé has flourished as a ball-winning midfielder but he may not be quite as dynamic or as effective box-to-box as the Cameroonian has been for Brighton over the past few seasons.

Taking their stats from the 2024/25 season – which demonstrate trends borne out during the early stage of 2025/26 as well – Baleba was a considerably more accurate passer (87.4% to 81.5% in league matches last season) and a better dribbler, beating his man on the run around 50% more frequently than Agoumé.

But while Baleba is highly effective off the ball, hassling opposing ball carriers and forcing turnovers, Agoumé may be even better. He made more tackles than Baleba last season with a higher success rate (69.2% to 60.0%), forced around one more turnover every two games and generated more interceptions and more blocked shots.

Agoumé, then, is a hugely effective defensive shield who may be slightly less well-rounded as a player than Baleba – but while it might be a stretch to say that he’s as effective going forward as he is at the back, he still has plenty of technical quality, and despite being a less accurate passer and less comfortable running forward than Baleba, he actually created more shooting chances per game for his team-mates at Sevilla.

Agoumé is showing every sign of being a consistent, high-level defensive midfielder who lets little past him, and has started the 2025/26 season looking like a player who’s improving steadily - and while he may be older than Baleba, who remains a wonderkid with plenty of room to develop and improve, Agoumé is hardly an ancient at 23.

That stands in some contrast to Baleba, who has been short of his best form since the start of the new campaign, and certainly hasn’t looked like a £100m player across the admittedly small sample size that the start of the season has offered us. It may be that, should Baleba not pick things back up soon, United look elsewhere anyway and Brighton aren’t even left looking for a replacement next summer. But if they do go into the market for a new defensive midfielder, all the stats and the tape suggest that Agoumé would be a very fine target indeed.